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Monday, September 1, 2008

When I heard Quentin Tarantino was going to remake the epic war movie Inglorious Bastards, the first thing I thought was, “What the heck is Inglorious Bastards?” I suppose if you’re going to remake a movie, it’s best to do one few people have heard of--that way they won’t complain that you ruined a masterpiece.

Being a fan of war movies, I Netflix’d the older movie right away to see what it was all about. My first thought was why have so few people heard of this movie? It’s one of the best war movies I’ve ever seen. My second thought was he’s going gore it up and ruin a masterpiece.

Going back to my first thought, why have few people heard of this movie, I’m still baffled. One of my favorite war movies is The Battle of Blood Island; it’s campy, cheesy, and full of unknown actors (unless you count Roger Corman as a major actor (he didn't direct it...only acted)). I can understand why few people have heard of that. But this? I’m confused. It’s Italian and dubbed into English, but I don’t think that is enough to scare everyone off.

It has a similar premise as The Dirty Dozen. A bunch of American villains must fight off a bunch of Germans in a secret mission. But everything about it is grander and more epic—from the romance to the final action sequence, which involves a train.

If you’re planning on seeing the remake when it comes out in a year or two, I highly recommend seeing this one first.

I have enjoyed the recent string of war movies like Saving Private Ryan (although, I must admit I agree with Roland (from the book) who says the movie was too "too anti-German") and Flags of our Fathers, but if you want to see a real war movie you have to go back at least twenty years. Who knows what Tarantino will do with this, but one thing I’ve hated about recent war movies is they are too realistic. Yes they’re interesting and fun to watch, but they try to hard to educate and show what it must have been like (if I want that I'll watch a documentary, or, better yet, read a book). There was a time when a war movie was simply a movie with a good storyline that was meant to entertain; people died, but it wasn’t gory and it certainly wasn’t realistic--it was just fun, and I miss that. Directors decided sometime ago if you do a period piece it has to be accurate and full of drama.

If you haven’t seen this movie—if you haven’t even heard of it—do yourself a favor and rent it. You won’t be disappointed.

And if you feel like it, share your thoughts on the movie by commenting below...or share your thoughts on other great movies that no one has ever heard of.